Abstract

Microwaves are now being used in a variety of chemical laboratories. By improving the safety features of conventional microwave ovens to give them greater control and feedback capabilities, chemists have been able to increase the potential applications for this technology. Consequently, the ability of microwave ovens to enhance the rates of various physical and chemical reactions is now being exploited in areas such as combinatorial organic synthesis, extraction of organic environmental pollutants, and digestion of samples for elemental analysis.